Makeunder My Life

As promised, Life with Intention consulting is live! If you look at the nav bar at the top of MML you’ll see the Life Consulting tabs (if it doesn’t show right away, try refreshing your page).

Along with the introduction, process, and pricing, you’ll see a rare glimpse of Mr. Lively!

Have a great weekend and feel free to email me if you’d like to schedule a Life with Intention consult!

Recently Ryan Gosling has become somewhat of an internet meme. I thought I’d share his enthusiasm for all those MML readers working on their dream job after the day job ends.

We can all use a little encouragement, right?

original photo credit, current state via MML

Earlier this week I announced the three chosen to work with me one-on-one in Life with Intention consulting. Though I wasn’t able to work with everyone who reached out, below is a brief summary of one of the stories I heard and my response. I hope it is helpful for others in similar shoes as well.

I taught for three months before realizing that teaching wasn’t the career for me.  This was a devastating realization as being a teacher was a big part of my identity. I’ve been trying to figure out what to do for work since then.

My current big dream is to start my own life-coaching business that helps women go after their dreams.

I’m not sure how to get from here to there.  I think my biggest obstacle is lack of time.  I feel like I’m chained to a desk all day and can’t be on top of my personal things because my creativity is stifled when I’m sitting in a florescent box for 40 hours a week. I also have a little bit of anxiety related to this, wondering how hard it will be, how much courage it will take, how much failure there will be along the way. While I don’t think I lack creativity, passion, or drive in making this happen, I think I may lack financial resources and time necessary to get this off the ground.

I want to make a difference in people’s lives, I want to have an income. And I want to be really good at what I do.

That is the first step, and the one that progress can now stem from. So that’s great, give yourself a pat on the back.

Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Okay, and because you know what you’d like to do, it’s now time to get to doing it. You have a continuum of choice here: you can take this fast, slow, kinda slow, you name it. If you want to make this all happen “as soon as freaking possible,” that may require you to release the excuses about the day job stifling your energy (it may be true, but you can use your willpower to overcome the urge to relax after the workday is over, or devote Saturday or Sunday to coaching work). To get fired up about the “just go do it and be a midnight hustler” I’d suggest watching some of Gary Vaynerchuk’s keynote speeches. He is a fire starter when it comes to working on a business after work.

By starting to see progress on your coaching after hours, you might get a renewed energy and eventually get some revenue. Which over time, could allow you to take a part-time job to make ends meet as you navigate your way to full-time coaching. Michelle from When I Grow Up Coach is a great example of doing just this and talks about it in her archives in video form. She could be a great source of inspiration as she’s someone who has navigated what you are seeking to do yourself. (Plus, she’s awesome.) : )

Or, if you are looking to take a more gradual approach to the business, you could start by creating a blog and devoting your off time to putting content there and generating a community that could eventually become potential clients. This will still obviously require your time after work, but you could do it at whatever pace you’d like and eventually ramp up to the other steps mentioned above. And the good thing about this is it doesn’t require much investment. In the process of blogging you can keep working your day job and lower your lifestyle so that you can start stashing some of your paycheck to go towards business expenses when you are ready to invest there.

Whatever your choice, fast or slow, making sure you can create the habit of working on your business or blog after work will be the next stepping stone to get where you want to be.

I have watched friends go from jobs to full-time self-employment and I feel like there is some kind of crazy energy that takes them far beyond their normal abilities and helps them push through to get the business started. Perhaps it’s momentum that builds on excitement, but eventually they hit a point where they have just enough financial stability to take the leap and cut the cord to their day or part-time job. Some it took many months, others a few years. But each one did it and you can too, if you just keep going.

: ) So I hope this is helpful and has you fired up to start taking the first baby steps (start a blog, or look into creating a website for the business) to make this happen for you!

Today I’m sharing my goals, vision for my life in five years, and other little tidbits you might not know about me over on Vmac + cheese in Victoria’s Behind the Scenes guest series. I also share my love for “fluffy cloud island” which hasn’t made its way onto MML just yet.

And in other news, Karlita introduced me to a great article by Martha Beck for O Magazine that talks about the difference between happiness and excitement. I found it fascinating and has helped me unravel a lot of my own frustrations with my happiness (or lack thereof) at times. Definitely worth checking out.

photo credit